Night

Ch. 15

Alx's P.O.V.
Walking back to Chris' house, neither he nor I talk. He doesn't want to talk, and I have nothing to say. If it wasn't for the chance to see Shayla I would have just stayed home. Maybe I should have. But I'm here now so I might as well keep going. Walking in silence, with Chris only just ahead of me. Leaving me to think. About everything. Things I need to think about. Things I want to think about. Things I want to think about but shouldn't. And things I don't want to think about but should. Shayla being the focal point of all my thoughts.
What will they think of her? How will they react? I couldn't care less, what they think of her. But she might. It is her safety. Why did she have to be human?
'She is our mate!'
'Yes, I know, Eric. Makes little difference to me that's she's human. But she is human and with that comes a lot of difficulty. You know that. The last thing I want to do is make her life more difficult than it already seems to be.'
That's another thing. Neither of us has any clue what's going on with her. Hell, I barely know anything about her. And I want to know everything about her. I want to hold her in my arms, tell her she's going to be ok. I want her safe and happy. But to her, I am a stranger. This is not going to be easy.
"You going to come in? Or are you just going to stand there staring off into space?" Chris, raising an eyebrow at me. Holding the door open, waiting for my reply.
Nodding my head, I walk inside. Making my way to the lounge, Chris behind me. And there she is sitting on the couch. Bowl of untouched popcorn in hand, watching some TV show. The thought that she probably hasn't eaten today angers me. At least she's trying. Noticing our presence, she returns to the home page.
"Hi" turning her head to us, giving us a small wave. But she doesn't smile. I would like to see her smile. But that isn't something I can ask of her, now is it?
"Were you not watching that?" I ask, pointing at the TV screen.
"It was boring me." She stats plainly, with eye contact. I try to hide my smile. Something I never want her to do is look at the ground when she talks to me.
"Do we have anything else planned for today, Alx?" Chris, making his way to the kitchen
"No."
"Good. Would you like to stay here and watch some movies with us?" grabbing to beers out of the fridge.
"If Shayla doesn't mind." Awaiting here answer.
She gives me a confused look before thinking for a moment.
"Sure." Returning her focus to the screen.
"Beer?"
"No thanks. I'm good."
"Beer?" offering it to Shayla, sitting next to her.
"I'm still 17."
"A few months won't hurt."
She's not 18 yet. That explains a lot.
"No. I'm good, thanks." Shaking her head at him.
"It's here if you want it." Placing the beer on the coffee table.
"Chose what you want." Handing me the remote.
My eyes dart between her and the remote.
"I don't really know what I want to watch." Sitting next to her.
Looking at the space between us she moves towards Chris. Moving away from me. I don't want her to move away. If anything, I wanted her to move closer.
"Ok." Handing Chris the remote. And he puts on a movie.
-
Hours have passed. It's dark. Five, no six movies down. Some good. Others well... let's just leave it at that. Chris seems fairly relaxed. He really gets into it. Its almost as if he's right there with them. Each and every movie. Shayla on the other hand is just sitting there. I would like to say that she's relaxed but I know better. Occasionally offering us her popcorn, never eating any herself. Reacting appropriately. And I'm sitting here trying to maintain my distance so not to make her uncomfortable. Spearing her a glance every now and then. Making sure she's ok. Even though I know she isn't, and I know that I can't do much about it. And that bothers me. It bothers me that I don't know what's going on with her. I what to know. I want her to tell me. So, I can kill it, them, or whatever it is. I want whatever it is that's causing her pain to be gone. Pain? Yes, pain. She's deeply in pain. But is hiding it. And hiding it well. Couldn't pinpoint it before.
Chris, suddenly erupting from his seat. Effectively knocking me out of my thoughts.
"Well, I'm hungry." Taking a trip to the kitchen.
Picking up the remote, Shayla stops the credits from rolling and starts looking for another movie.
"Shit." Chris shouts. Moving backwards and forwards from the fridge to the pantry. Banging and crashing as he goes.
"What?" I ask turning to face him.
"Pot calling the kettle black." Her eyes still locked on the screen. Again? What does that mean?